Claims that millions of US online bank accounts were easy targets for cyber criminals have been dismissed by the company hosting the servers.
vnunet.com, 25 Sep 2000
Claims that millions of US online bank accounts were easy targets for cyber criminals have been dismissed by the company hosting the servers.
According to a report in the Observer newspaper, Isle of Man-based security expert Ralph Dressel claimed to have stumbled across a flaw that allowed him to access millions of bank accounts. Many other news services reported the story unchallenged.
However, an investigation by vnunet.com revealed that the information accessed by Dressel was nothing more than fictitious data used for staff training and demonstrations.
In a statement issued late today, Leslie Muma, president and chief executive of Fiserv, the company that hosted the US bank's servers, said the Observer's story was "incorrect and misleading".
"A British internet banking customer quoted in the stories accessed only demonstration accounts at sites maintained for clients of a Fiserv servicing unit. The demonstration accounts contain only fictitious data used for training and sales purposes."
"We maintain the strictest security on all of our systems whether for internet banking or core account processing. At no time were any of our systems in danger of being compromised," said Muma.
Dressel said he was free to carry out a wide range of financial transactions including transferring funds and changing PINs. Fiserv manages web services for a number of banks including Abbey National in the UK.
A story posted on a US newspaper's website has suggested that Bill Gates has been arrested for breaking into "hundreds, maybe thousands" of computers including those of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena and Stanford University.
Think-tank the Foundation for Information Policy Research today launched a scathing attack on the UK's internet banks.
While the threat caused by recent security beaches at a raft of online banks may have been exaggerated, such organisations need to take the initiative in educating users about security procedures if they are to boost consumer confidence.
In the final part of our guide to selling security solutions we see a bright future for resellers, as long as they can adapt to an evolving market.
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